Return to Love

The teenagers cheered and jockeyed to be first in line at the counter by the back doors. Gracie followed, hoping Carter wouldn’t see her. She couldn’t talk to him, not with annoying tears still clinging to her eyelashes. She made a beeline for Lori.

“Gracie, wait up!” Carter’s unmistakable voice echoed across the gymnasium floor and she slowed her clipped stride. There was no denying she heard him, the entire gym probably had. She drew a deep breath and turned, fists clenched, ready to fake it until she could pour a few cups of soda and get out of there.

“I’m so glad you were here.” Carter was out of breath as he jogged the remaining steps to Gracie’s side. He grinned, that lopsided smile that used to always buckle her knees.

Tonight, however, her legs remained firmly locked in placed. “No problem, Carter. You did great. I was just about to go serve the food.” She kept her voice tense, her shoulders stiff.

“Let me help you.”

“No really, it’s—”

“Carter!” A breathless female voice sounded from behind.

Gracie turned with relief. Tawny. Now she could make her escape.

Carter eased back a step as Tawny bounced to his side and possessively took his arm in hers, shutting Gracie out with a flip of her ponytail. She ducked at the last second.

“You were fantastic.” Tawny batted her eyelashes. “I hope you’re doing an encore.”

“Actually, no.” Carter tugged his arm free. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

“I’m Tawny Sinclair.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I’m an old fan.” She giggled. “But not that old.”

Gracie winced at the shrillness of Tawny’s laugh. “I’m going to pour drinks. See you around, Carter.”

“Gracie, wait—”

“So, you’re the Carter Alexander.” Tawny’s bubbly voice interrupted as Gracie made her escape. “I couldn’t believe it when Gracie told me that was you. I must have somehow missed the announcement that you were coming.”

Gracie hurried out of earshot of Tawny’s exaggerated gushing. No doubt Carter was soaking it up. Of all the sacrifices he’d made, he probably missed the beautiful fan element of his career the most.

She stepped around two teen boys jostling for a slice of sausage pizza and joined Lori at the counter. She wouldn’t be another one of Carter’s groupies. She couldn’t compete with those women in high school, why try now? Nothing had changed.

Gracie glanced up as another one of Tawny’s crystal laughs rang across the gymnasium. Carter smiled down at Tawny, seemingly in no hurry to leave her company or the possessive hand on his arm.

Nope. Nothing’s changed at all.

Chapter Five

Carter couldn’t help but watch Gracie over Tawny’s shoulder—which was good, it gave him somewhere to focus other than on Tawny’s revealing sweater. He didn’t want to seem rude, especially since she was obviously such a dedicated fan, but something about Tawny didn’t seem real—not her personality or hair color.

He forced a smile as she laughed for the hundredth time, and glanced toward the kitchen just as Gracie pulled a slice of pizza free from the dwindling boxes. Those teenagers could eat. If Tawny didn’t stop talking soon, they’d both miss dinner. He tuned in to her words, hoping to end the one-sided conversation.

“—back in, what, 1998? But those guys weren’t nearly as good as your band. You were on your way to the top just a few years ago. I was so devastated when I heard Cajun Friday was splitting, I had to go buy waterproof mascara because—”

It seemed hopeless. The woman hardly took a breath. He needed to get out of there, fast. His stomach growled and he sent another pleading glance toward Lori and Gracie. They were both pouring drinks and didn’t look up.

“Carter, my man!” Andy’s voice boomed from the kitchen. “Come help me eat this last pie.”

Saved by the roommate. Carter fought to hide his sigh of relief. “Excuse me.” He patted Tawny’s shoulder and moved aside. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll see you around.” She smiled, flashing a row of even white teeth.

A rush of guilt invaded Carter’s senses. She was just trying to be nice. Tawny wasn’t the first to blabber on in front of their favorite celebrity. She was probably just nervous. He smiled back with more sincerity. “I look forward to it.”

Gracie shouldn’t be jealous. She had no claim on Carter anymore—never did, if she were totally honest. Still, his attention to Tawny did unsettling things to her insides.

She focused on pouring a Dr. Pepper for Haley and handed the young girl an extra napkin. “You’ve got pizza sauce on your chin.”

“Thanks.” Haley swiped at her face and picked up her soda with a grin. “That would’ve impressed the boys, huh?”

“Hey, the way they eat pizza, I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“I think Jeremy’s on his sixth piece.”

“Seventh.” They exchanged smiles.

“I’m gonna go dare him to eat eight.” Haley tipped her cup at Gracie. “See ya.”

Gracie screwed the lid back on the two-liter bottle and watched Haley flounce up to Jeremy, a high school junior who had to be at least six-five. He was the star football player. Haley was a JV cheerleader—it was the stereotypical match. They denied their feelings, but their eyes gave it away. That, and the way Jeremy blushed when Haley took the chair next to him.

Had Gracie ever been that young? It felt like eons ago instead of seven or eight years when she and Carter were in the same position—the preacher’s son and the good girl who never missed a service, best friends with secret crushes. Or rather, what turned out to be a one-way crush—hers. Carter had made that explicitly clear.

Gracie shoved the bottle of soda in line with the others and looked away from Haley’s charming giggle. Hopefully their story would turn out better than hers and Carter’s.

“Earth to Gracie.” Lori snagged one of the discarded pizza boxes and began to fold the cardboard corners. “Where are you? Mars or Pluto?”

Gracie glanced at Carter, then away. “More like Memory Lane.” She took a second box and followed Lori’s cue, folding the corners together to start a trash pile.

“Is it a closed tour or can I come along?” Lori grinned.

“I don’t know if you’d want to. It’s not pretty.”

“Most pasts aren’t.”

Gracie blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. “I was hoping the kids in this youth group have an easier time of it than I did.” In more ways than one. Gracie could relate to many of their broken homes. She had grown up without a father. Thankfully her mother had supported her both financially and emotionally, unlike many of these teenagers’ current circumstances. If it hadn’t been for Reverend Alexander, she’d have had no fatherly influence at all.

Lori shrugged. “They might. They might not. Everyone faces their own issues with friendships and relationships growing up.” She stacked the neatly folded boxes on top of each other. “Then there are those of us who wait until we’re in our twenties to get burned.”

“That wasn’t your fault.” No one deserved the treatment Lori’s ex dished out. Anger boiled in Gracie’s stomach at the thought of someone cheating on her best friend. “Jason wasn’t the right guy.”

“Maybe Carter wasn’t, either.”

Gracie’s hands stilled on the containers. She’d never thought of it that way, only considered herself a victim of her best friend’s betrayal. What if Lori was right, and everything that happened between her and Carter was for a reason? Maybe they weren’t supposed to ever be more than what they were.